Day 3: Turbo Jet to Macau

After our more-than-hearty breakfasts at Tsim Chai Kee, Lan Fong Yuen and Tai Cheong Bakery, we walked back to Central MTR Station to take a train to Sheung Wan to embark on a trip to Macau.

On our way back, I saw a few things that I thought was so typically Hong Kong:

a long flight of steps which I thought often featured in HK drama serials

The Hong Kongers seem to like using '记' for their signboards

The Central MTR Station

A handsome-but-unbeknownst-to-me TV host filming at the Station

We reached Sheung Wan!

Who says only Singaporeans love to queue? The HKers even have a queue for a lift!

It was not without hassle that we finally reached the 'finishing line' ie. the Departure Gate at Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Pier.

Firstly, for some reason, the ignorant me always thought that Macau was a part of Hong Kong. I didn't know that going Macau from Hong Kong is equivalent to going to a different country and thus need passports. Fortunately, my mother carries our passports wherever we go. So bring your passport if you're going Macau.

Secondly, there was some confusion over where to buy the tickets for the Turbo Jet. There was an official sales office for Turbo Jet, but there was another man from a travel agency peddling his tickets loudly and announcing the departure time to Macau, which was about 45 minutes away, at the same time. My sister asked me to buy from him as we would wait for 15 minutes less (for the Turbo Jet) compared to buying from the Turbo Jet sales counter and my mother was panicking and repeatedly telling me the time was running out.

I couldn't think properly amidst the chaos and in the end settled for the tickets sold by the impatient man at the travel agency. Even then, I asked for the price for 4 adults and 1 child, in that messy queue, before doing my Maths to check if he was cheating me. The paranoid me is quite wary of the locals who might take advantage of ignorant tourists.

After buying the tickets, we half-ran-half-walked to check in at the customs and hit the departure gate before the Jet left without us.

And we realised we still had time to spare

Something silly happened during our wait.

We saw a queue forming near our Departure Gate. My sister asked me to go and queue. I stood in the queue for a while before asking the HK couple in front why they were queueing. They were very helpful and told me that it was for the Turbo Jet, but they were speaking in Cantonese most of the time and I couldn't understand them entirely. I looked at their tickets and found that they looked different from mine, so I withdrew from the queue and went back to my family members. It was after a while of exploring the place that I realised that the queue was for 'standby passengers'. I'm not too sure what it means but a check on the internet says they are passengers wanting to travel before their ticketed sailing - for an earlier departure it seems.

We waited patiently till it was time for our turn to queue.

The tunnel tube leading to the Jet

Coco continues to enjoy her Tai Cheong egg tart

The ticket

Each passenger was given a ti-kum card. Couldn't even remember what was on it.

The view outside of Turbo Jet

Our Turbo Jet

This is our back-to-HK Jet

My father and I had thought that the Turbo Jet would be a ride that's extraordinarily speedy. A little disappointed I would say. It took an hour to reach Macau and when back, about 75 minutes.

The smaller Turbo Jet that we went to Macau on rocked rather badly before it departed the Hong Kong-Macau Terminal. I almost had motion sickness. I surmised it was because it was of a smaller size and thus would rock whenever passengers boarded or walked on the jet.

Getting to Macau:

1) Sheung Wan MTR Exit D

2) Buy tickets at 3rd floor of Shun Tak Centre (24 hours)

3) Proceed to the Pier for Turbojet

Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Pier

202 Connaught Road, Central

The Turbo Jet departs every 15 to 30 minutes, 24 hours a day.

An adult Turbo Jet Economy roundtrip ticket costs HK268 (S$49).